Author's Note: Anyone who follows my fics likely knows I'm not really one for long author's notes and shout outs. But this seriously never would have gotten written with the the lovely and talented CasaKitten who is my new fanfiction addiction.

The Look Out

Rose checked her watch for what may have been the millionth time in the past quarter of an hour. 'What is taking so long!' She thought as she looked down at the parchment in her hands. The last update on the charmed scroll had been in Lily's handwriting. Lily was acting as chief mischief coordinator from the dormitories with the Marauders map.

This role the anal retentive, obsessive compulsive disorder-suffering girl took like a hippogriff to air.

'Small delay, hold positions.' was all the tiny scrawl had said. So here she was, standing guard in the charms corridor instead of meeting her prefect patrol partner Hazel Finnegan; the Gryffindor prefect who she'd specifically finagled for tonight since she was fairly gullible, pitiably so. Thus making her need to stand guard for the traditional brood coming of age prank easier to accommodate. She watched the parchment as the tidy perfect script of Lily's quill appeared:

'Rose, I've got two coming your way. Prefect at 5 o'clock and Professor Neville coming up the north stairs. Be on alert.'

Rose gasped, hastily she shoved the parchment into her skirt pocket and bent down to lace her bright red trainers in a well practiced attempt at inconspicuous. She stayed crouched down tying and re tying the laces on her right shoe, praying simultaneously that the anonymous prefect would not show up, or at least have the courtesy to hurry up already as the hard stone floor wasn't comfortable against her bent knee. On her fifth retying she heard footsteps near.

Male, she guessed; mentally cataloging who it could be. Zeller and perhaps Wilkes would be the closest; just two floors down but she was drawing a blank on who was assigned to the Divination and Astronomy towers. It was possible that they might walk through here to avoid the diversion they'd convinced Peeves to pull on the 7th floor?

"Rose?" 'Oh shite!' She thought as her friend's familiar voice called down the echoing hallway. She stood up and pasted a wide smile on her face.

"Scorpius!" She called out a little too loudly. Her mind already racing with ways to get rid of him; it was so much harder to lie to a friend. It felt wrong, especially since Scorpius was regularly included in the pranks and jokes. This one though was traditionally a brood exclusive prank.

"Aren't you and Finnegan patrolling together?" He asked, looking around for her partner.

"Uhm… we are she is just- hey what about you and Bletchley?"

Suddenly remembering who was patrolling the towers tonight, Scorpius colored and rocked back on his heals while adjusting the collar of his sweater.

"We sort of have an agreement that," he paused in obvious discomfort. "Anytime one of us needs some alone time with female companion the other would discreetly cover for them. It's why we sign up together so often."

"So you two pairing up the whole time you were dating Summersby, no accident." This was a statement of fact not a question. She'd tried to sign up for to be his partner during those 6 weeks, wanting to have a chance to be alone with him, away from the suction cup lips that belonged to his girlfriend, but with no luck. A knot of disappointment grew in her chest at the knowledge that he'd been cozying up to her in some broom cupboard somewhere.

Now completely distracted from her guarding responsibilities, the knot weighing heavily in her chest seemed to sink into her stomach. His cheeks flushed a deep scarlet and she suddenly felt sick as visions of him and his blonde bimbo tangled together in a secluded unused classroom assailed her.

"Yeah, something like that," he mumbled. Scorpius leaned one shoulder against the wall, avoiding her gaze. "So what made you ditch Finnegan? Are you plotting mayhem with the others or awaiting some handsome devil to snog in some empty broom cupboard?" the tone of his voice was casual as he asked, and it bothered her profusely that he was so content with the thought of her being with someone else. How pathetic was this crush getting? In her true emotionally stunted fashion she chose to joke and make light of her disappointment.

"Perhaps it's both. Can't a girl wreak havoc while awaiting for a snog from some dapper gentleman in a dark deserted corridor?" Rose asked, and cringed at once as she heard the overly flirtatious inflection. He raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing, leaving her quite unsure of his reaction. 'Dapper gentleman? Where the hell did that come from? Was the speech part of my brain possessed by some two hundred year old dandy of a poltergeist. Shite!' Her stomach flipped in desperate panic.

"I didn't mean to imply the actions had to be mutually exclusive." He answered with a smirk, at which she felt her stomach flutter. Why did he have to be some dreamy? It was almost a cliché how good looking and charming he was. Like he was some all too perfect heroes you'd find in one of the trashy romance novels her mother stashed away from prying eyes, safely located behind the more 'impressive' books in their study at home.

"Well I'll have you know I'm a woman of many talents." Rose fought to keep her tone relaxed and not breathless from his close proximity. He stood straight again and stepped towards her with a mischievous grin on his face. The intoxicating scent of cashmere and vanilla wafted to her nostrils, and she inhaled deeply, savoring the rich aroma that was distinctly Scorpius.

Rose flushed darkly as she realized how blatantly obvious she was being; at his grin that broadened at her reaction. She supposed she should have been used to the smell, and certainly not caught off guard; as she often had to endure the nasal assault. For months on end, she had agonized over pinpointing the smell.

It had been on a walk back from the Quidditch pitch; an evening so cold it prompted Scorpius to offer her his sweater. That night, she slept in it, and reveled in being engulfed in its—his aromatic presence. She still had that sweater, sitting in her trunk at the foot of her bed. She'd tried to give it back to him when they'd parted ways that evening but he'd told her to keep it. Surely he'd meant just for that night, but Rose found other cold nights in need of its particular brand of warmth, and kept it.

"Let me guess, you secretly juggle little baby geese or perhaps are hiding a penitent for underwater basket weaving?" His eyes were dancing with merriment and she couldn't hold back a small chuckle.

"Yes, those are two of my particularly fantastic abilities. Also I can tie a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue." Rose blushed as she recalled the summer afternoon at the burrow with her cousins. Victoire told them this meant you were a good kisser and they'd spent the next hour under a cherry tree practicing.

Footsteps echoed towards them from far down the corridor, heavily landing on the stairs leading up to them. Her mind snapped back to the task at hand.

"Quick, go away!" Rose began shoving Scorpius in the direction he came from.

"What? We're just patrolling, in fact we'll be in more trouble if we're each caught alone. We should stick together." She sighed as she was defeated by his logic. She looked around her nervously. This was all supposed to have been done 10 minutes ago! She didn't have a plan for keeping a professor out of the fall zone. She had a story about a dung bomb down the way if any students had come by, but this was no good; in the note Lily had said it was Professor Longbottom. Unlike students, who would cover their noses in distaste, and take another route with no questions asked, the Professor was obligated to go investigate.

Rose looked at a confused Scorpius as the echoing footsteps drew nearer, continuing up the stairs toward her designated look out spot. She had to think of something! The whole tradition could stand in ruin if they were caught. There was only one option coming to mind, and she knew it likely was a terrible idea that could jeopardize everything between them. She squared her shoulders, gathering the courage to do what she was planning.

"I'd like to apologize before hand for what I'm about to do." She stepped toward him reluctantly.

"Why? What are you about to do to me?" He asked with a smirk. She took another step towards him.

"I mean this in the most platonic way possible Scorpius." 'And if there was ever a moment I am lying it would be now.' With her third step toward him, his calm relaxed demeanor changed, replaced by more confusion.

"What do you mean? Rose, what are you thinking?" She could see his adams apple bob as he swallowed his panic. He stepped backwards with her forth step but she was still closing the distance between them.

"I am just following your lead."

He stepped back again his shoulders hitting the wall. Scorpius's eyes grew wide as he ran out of places to go. "You said it was one or the other right? Scheming or snogging, so if I'm really plotting something but don't want it to look that way, then I have to make it look like the only other reasonable option."

She stood up on her tiptoes and leaned into him, although she was still several inches shy of her intended destination. Rose sighed in frustration but Scorpius only froze in his spot, seemingly rooted to the floor. She reached her hand up, the footsteps were no longer on stairs; they were coming steadily down the corridor. Rose slowly curled her fingers into the hair at the base of the neck, pulling him towards her.

His eyes were a pale gray in the soft light; she noticed the small scar above his eyebrow and for the hundredth time wondered how he'd gotten it. It sliced into his eyebrow slightly but instead of disfiguring she'd always found it rather alluring; a bit of mystery behind the blonde fringe constantly gracing his forehead.

As she pulled him closer; still he kept up his status of non-interaction and she felt the sudden urge to smack him. Rose watched him earnestly as she placed her other hand on his chest before gazing into his eyes through her long auburn lashes.

"Please." She whispered softly, for a moment forgetting about the foot falls landing steadily closer. He broke her gaze after a long moment, his cheeks tinting softly with the lightest of pinks.

"Alright," Is all he responded, still refusing to look her in the eye. He licked his lips in what was likely an unconscious movement as he placed one hand around her waist.

Through the hand placed on his chest she could feel his heart accelerate and it thrilled her for a moment that she was getting any sort of physical reaction out of him.

He leaned down towards her slowly, keeping his eyes focused away from her. The hand at her waist flexed open before closing tighter. He was hovering just above her, and her mind screamed at her that this was a horrible idea. She didn't want him this way, there was no way in the world she could manage her affection for him if she actually knew what his lips tasted like, what they felt like moving beneath her own.

Then he looked at her, in that fraction of a moment before they touched, as he looked at her, into her, she felt peace. Her mind forgot all the fear, the trepidation she felt, and the omnipresent worry was a stranger to her then. In his eyes she found herself lost in just the tranquility of him. Then she closed her eyes and waited. Time seemed to stretch out for eternity as she stood there waiting... and then it was bliss.

His lips were soft and warm, still moist from when he'd licked them just moments before. She held her lips still, unsure of how far it was prudent to let this moment go. Just the position they were in now was enough to explain their presence. They wouldn't be the first prefects to take a moment out during rounds. But Rose couldn't just stand there like that, she'd dreamed of what it would feel like to be in the exact moment and she'd be cursing herself for the rest of her life if she didn't do something with it.

She moved her lips fractionally, to gauge his response. To her immense relief he moved too, much larger of an action then she did, she suddenly found her lip being pulled slightly in between his lips. Never in her short life had Rose felt weak in the knees, always assuming it was some trite saying that wasn't meant to be taken literally, but in that moment Rose knew she was mistake. She felt herself teeter slightly as his mouth moved again, this time sucking on her lip a little more and feeling the faintest hit of his tongue as he kissed her.

His other hand wrapped around her waist and she knew she was no longer the sole support for her body weight. Being in his arms like that, she felt dainty and protected. She almost kicked herself for how girly it was, though she still couldn't resist reveling in the feeling. His kiss made her feel like a woman, and when she moved her lips against him, mimicking his movements he let out a soft moan that made her think that maybe this kiss was making him feel her like a woman too.

Scorpius was slow and methodical, as though he was memorizing her, which was exactly was she was doing to him. She ran her tongue softly along his lip, curious as to how he tasted as well as how he'd react. She felt his lips curve into a smile at her movements and her heart swelled with in her chest. He was enjoying this. No matter what the motivation that got them there, they were there and he liked it.

He hunched toward her more, relieving the ache she hadn't realized she'd developed in the arches of her feet from standing on her tiptoes for so long. Then as she pulled his lower lip into her own mouth, kneading it gently, something in him seemed to snap. His kisses were suddenly more intense, his hold on her became vice like as he pulled her against him.

They stood like that for a long moment, passionately kissing with her body pressed against his. In that time her body became aware of an obvious thickness pressed between them. She couldn't be sure if it had been there the whole time or had just developed as they progressed in the moment but once she was conscious of its existence she was having trouble thinking of anything else.

Never before had she been in this position, any kisses she's shared up to now had been fairly chaste and didn't include full body contact. Then there it was, as she stood sharing a self-proclaimed 'platonic' kiss with one of her best friends she could feel one for the first time.

Her mind mulled over the possible things she should be feeling right now. When she'd heard the girls in the dorm talk about situations like this she'd been sure it was pretty gross to have your boyfriends sex organ, hard and evident against your pelvic bone but now that she was in that moment for herself she found it intoxicating.

It was the typical response to this situation, and she knew that but all the same this was Scorpius's reaction to Rose. In that moment and she found herself aching with lust as that realization ran through her. He wanted her. On some level, in some way he wanted her. It would change everything forever because no matter how he'd seen her before, he would always know in the back of his head that she was a woman. One that he had held and touched in that way you don't hold 'just friends'.

His lips broke their contact and she let out a small noise in protest; which quickly turned into a low moan when he moved his lips along her jaw. She moved her hand from his chest so that both hands now held possessively onto his neck, holding him against her throat as he moved. In an instinctual movement she adjusted her body against him, attempting to alleviate the ache that was building in her.

She felt his breath hitch against her skin and she smiled to herself. He liked that. 'Is it dirty that I enjoyed that he liked that?' Then she lost her train of thought as he began to suck the hollow of her throat, sending shivers down the entire side of the body. She'd wondered in the past about the appeal of those 'love bites' Becky was always sporting, asking her what could be worth such embarrassing and territorial marks.

Now she knew, she about lost herself in his ministrations as she discovered exactly what the appeal in those deep red blemishes she knew she'd have to ask the specific glamour charm used to cover them. Her mind was suddenly brought back to the present by a distant voice.

It was Professor Longbottom, still far away it sounded like he was engaging one of the portraits in a conversation. As this brought her mind back to semi coherent thought she realized Scorpius's hands at some point had moved southward and were now gripping her arse tightly. His one large hand squeezing her rhythmically while the other ran its menadering way along her hip.

She loved the feel of him, all of him. Every fraction of this moment, his tongue slowly running circles below her ear, his hardened member pressed between them, his hands supporting and cupping her body in a way she wanted to remember as long as she lived. With a sudden start she realized he probably wasn't enjoying this as much as she was. All she seemed capable of doing was loll her head back and moan in pleasure.

She pulled away from him slightly, forcing him to meet her gaze. His eyes were dark and intense. She felt her stomach flutter under his gaze. Rose smiled in a way that she could only pray was seductive before moving her lips against his throat. His skin against her lips was slightly salty and she found herself pulling it into her mouth, kneading it with her tongue.

Scorpius had always been difficult for her to get a read on, the dry witty sense of humor so different than her loud and silly side. Always standing back while she jumped forward, he wasn't by any means shy, just a more cautious person who in turn avoided humiliation at a frequency much higher than Rose did. So his vivid response to her touch caught her off guard. He rested his head on the wall behind him as she moved, his heavy breath tickling the skin beside her ear.

"Holy mother of Merlin!" He mumbled softly, to her or the empty abyss around them she didn't know but she thrived on it. Suddenly becoming more emboldened in her actions, raking her hands roughly in his hair, sucking his earlobe and rolling it between her teeth. A sharp hiss escaped his lips as she did this and she was roughly thrown off her balance as he lifted her body, holding her backside firmly in his arms.

As he stepped forward she instinctually wrapped her legs around his waist, both for support in her now shifting balance and her body's desire to press against him. He turned them with a grace Rose knew she would never be capable of and suddenly she was the one pressed against the cold stone wall with his weight holding her up. He brought his lips back to hers and it was like her mind split at that moment.

Part of her was clutched in his arms, feeling his lips against hers, his teeth taking her lip between them and pulling across her plump flesh. Fully engrossed in every sensation that was washing over her, but then there was another part of her. A part of her that knew this couldn't be real. The overly rational part the irrational part wanted to shut up and just enjoy the moment. This blissful moment she very likely would never have again, but the rational part couldn't be quieted.

It was nudging her to not get too carried away, because while it might be causing his body to react, oh yes even her rational side had to acknowledge the firm solid mass slowly grinding against her rapidly moistening center. That was all it was to him though, a snog in a corridor. Not just that, a diversion tactic she'd had to plead with him to comply to.

The rational part of her forced the image of him, fearful eyes and stepping backwards at the thought of her doing this. Scorpius hadn't wanted this from her. Rose who was his 'best pal', Rose who he'd asked dating advice from, Rose who he'd laughed when she'd been forced into admitting a small crush on Alan Cootes by her relentless cousin. He hadn't wanted her in this way, hadn't seen her in this way.

Above all, the rational side was screaming at her, desperately warning her not to get too attached because this would never happen again. All the while knowing it was a lost cause, because the irrational side, the part of her that was saturating itself in the lust and passion of this moment was already imagining itself outside this brief encounter. To holding hands as they walk to class together, to moonlit broom rides with his arms wrapped around her and to hours of being together in the shade of the beech tree they so often studied under.

Rose was foolishly picturing what it would be like to indulge in all those fantasies she'd built around him. Lazy summer afternoons together out in the pond behind her house, stolen kisses in the library. She wanted all of it now. Now that she knew how right it felt to have him holding her like this. How perfectly entwined their bodies fit. She wanted to feel his soft lips again and again and every day after that. She fought that smart and self preserving part of her back, willing her brain to ignore it and wholly focusing on this exact moment and how it felt.

She methodically began to memorize; his familiar scent wafting over her; cashmere, vanilla and now musky from the current activity, his hand cupping her arse, still kneading it in a harmonious rhythm with the hand he'd slipped under the folds of her sweater and cotton Henley shirt. The feel of his soft yet roughened hands making its way along her bare skin sent a wave of shivers down her body. His firm sex pressing against the base of her parted thighs. His movements of rocking against her were unlike anything she'd ever felt before. An unfamiliar fuzzy feeling began to engulf part of her body, her chest was tight, her toes curled inside her trainers causing her to tighten her hold around his hips.

Before she was even finished cataloging this entirely she was awakened by an unexpected reality, she was building to something. His movements weren't as painfully slow and her own traitorous body was moving to helping things along. She broke their kiss and buried her head into his neck, his lips once again devouring her neck but not in the same way as before.

It was no long the slow studied caresses he'd languished upon her earlier, now they were a frenzy of his kisses and nibbles that seemed more of a preoccupation of his lips versus where his concentration was focused. Rose was panting heavily into the collar of his neck and wished the evidence of what he was doing to her wasn't quite so obvious.

"Scorpius," she heard herself mummer through gasping breaths before her whole body shuttered. Reflexively her head was thrown back as her back arched and her thighs tightened their hold on him. Her center throbbing with its ecstasy as her lungs took in heaving breaths to steady the onslaught of what had just happened to her.

Rose's closed eyes focused on the darkness in front of her as she settled back into reality. She took in where she was, how she was being held and Scorpius's now frozen stance. 'Shit' she thought over and over again. She had just climaxed during her 'strictly platonic' distraction kiss, and as much as Scorpius may have physically responded to her, surely neither of them had expected it to drive them toward sexual completion.

Humiliation filled her and the irrational side of her retreated to the pressings of her self-reserving rational side. She pressed her forehead against his, still unable to open her eyes and face what surely would be a horrified expression.

"Scorpius I-" but neither of them were ever able to find out exactly what Rose was as a loud clearing of the throat from several meters off startled them back into reality. They both visibly startled, causing him to jump away from her and lucky she was able to find her feet before she landed on her behind.

How the hell did she let things get that far when she knew Professor Longbottom was on his way toward them? That had been the whole reason behind it after all, a diversion from what she'd really been up to. Playing look out for a large scale coordinated prank. Standing there staring at the parchment waiting for Lily's instructions seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had happened since then, too much.

It was Rose who was able to speak first, blushing a deep tomato red as she smoothed her skirt.

"Uncle Nev- I mean Professor Longbottom, how are you tonight?" She winced at her mistake. She hadn't accidentally called him Uncle Neville in years, it just showed how out of sorts she was. He responded while she fixed her gaze furiously onto the floor.

"Obviously not as well as the two of you."

'Oh merlin's balls, this is awful.' she thought, realizing she'd just been caught having an orgasm by a man who'd been there for every major holiday of her life. 'Shit' she cursed internally. He was going to tell her parents! Her dad would kill her! No, worse! Her dad would break down into tears at his little girl engaging in such lewd behavior and then he would kill Scorpius. It didn't matter that she'd been the one to initiate it, her father would kill the man attached to the engorged cock she'd dry humped into satisfaction.

"Just finishing up our prefect rounds, sir." Scorpius's mumbled, tugging at the neck of his sweater as he rocked back on his heels.

"Indeed." Professor Longbottom muttered. Rose chanced a glance up and saw he was bright red and realized he was quite possibly as embarrassed as they were. She knew Neville, she'd over heard him saying last Christmas how the least favorite part of his job was coming across exactly what he's just stumbled across. So she decided to skip all the bull and ask what was really on her mind.

"Are you going to tell my parents?" Rose asked, her voice a plea more accurately asking he do the exact opposite. She watched Neville sigh as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I hate it when you kids put me in this spot, Rosie," Rosie! He never called her that in school so at least she knew he was leveling with her. It was a few long moments before he spoke again, the whole time her eyes pleading with him to understand.

"You know the deal, if it's not something I'd write about to someone else's parents about it's not something I'll write home about to yours. I made that deal with all your parents when I started this job, years before you were even attending Hogwarts. Though I doubt Ron will be happy when he learns I didn't write him about this. It very well might be me who gets the howler and not you."

Rose smiled brightly and threw her arms around Neville.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. Uncle Neville you're the best."

"Professor Longbottom, Uncle Neville would certainly have to write to your parents about this, er- development. Though that doesn't get you out of your punishment though, both of you will lose 10 points and you'll be serving detention tomorrow night at 7 with me in green house 3." From the sound of his voice she knew he was trying his best to be the firm and authoritative teacher and not the bumbling Uncle who'd helped her prank her older cousins when they were ganging up on her and Al.

She stepped back, willing to play the student to his Professor routine if it meant not having this reported to her parents.

"Yes Sir, I understand completely Professor and we shall be there at 7 o'clock sharp." Rose said, as she straightened her shoulders. They both fixed their eyes on Scorpius, who up until now could have been mute for all the talking he'd been doing.

"Yes of course Sir, green house 3 at 7 o'clock." He said nodding vigorously, obviously pleased at not having Mr. Weasley, a high-ranking Auror out and ready to hex his balls off.

The older man began to step back in the direction he came from before he stopped and turned back to Rose.

"This isn't something to throw me off the trail now is it?" He asked; one eyebrow cocked up. Rose fought to keep her face free from any of the panic she felt fluttering in her stomach.

"The trail, Sir?" She answered back with a question, adding the 'Sir' for good measure.

"It's Albus's birthday tomorrow, and it seems that whenever one of 'the brood' comes of age there is a prank of epic proportions played with that birthday individual having a clear and irrefutable alibi for the time in question. Rose widened her eyes, pushing back the devilish smile that was fighting to creep onto her face.

"Coincidence I'm sure Professor."

"Yes, of course." He said with a small smile before turning around and heading back towards the stairs.

Rose let out a long sigh of relief as she collapsed against the wall leaning her head back.

"That could have definitely gone worse." Then her eyes met Scorpius's intense gaze and the realization of how that could have meant washed over her. "That is to say, I don't think either of us wanted a howler tomorrow about getting caught snogging." She hesitated a little at the words, she wanted to talk to him about what had happened but hadn't the slightest idea on what to say.

It was entirely too distracting the way he was looking at her. His eyes were dark and fixed on her, she watched as his eyes racked over her body, his eyes spoke of sex and passion. It hit her that her post-climactic high had been interrupted but he must still be unsatisfied. She couldn't keep her eyes from glancing downward and when they did she found he was still in the same predicament at before.

The thought taunted her, could she cross the few steps between them and press him against the wall behind him, once again having him devour her with his desire? Could she do that now that there was no pretense to protect her from the possible rejection? Was she willing to cross that now blurred line of friendship to satisfy the ache her heart and body were feeling at not still being pressed against him?

She had to say something, to gauge his response, and to possibly save herself from further humiliation if this hadn't affected him the same as her.

"Especially since it was just a meaningless distraction kiss, to keep him from catching Fred and James setting everything up for tomorrow." She said slowly, careful to make her voice sound light and uncaring, not wanting to admit how much it had meant to her.

"Yeah, just a distraction, of course." Scorpius answered a little dazedly as he leaned against the wall across from her. His eyes finally broke their connection with hers.

Her heart sank as he put up no arguments to her statement. I had just been a diversion, nothing more, nothing less. He probably wouldn't even give it another seconds thought.

That rational part of her brain was saying 'I told you so' while it picked up the pieces of the shattered irrational parts dreams. Sweeping the jagged shards into a corner so as to avoid the pointed edged in his presence. That could wait until later, she could lay in her bed tonight going over that broken dreams and live in the momentary world of 'what if', but not now, not with him standing there. Not with the evidence so clear that it had merely been an uncontrollable physical reaction for him.

She pulled her parchment back out of her pocket and unfolded it to find the words 'All clear' written in place of the earlier messages. She waved the paper vaguely toward him.

"It's all clear to head back, I guess they're done with all the prep work."

"Good, that's good." He murmured before they both turned and headed in the direction of Ravenclaw tower.